his word is law
- idiom
- Informal
:
su palabra es ley
- In the kingdom, the king ruled with absolute authority; his word is law.
Examples
-
If anybody feels like they are in trouble... his word is law.
-
In the mullah's state, however, his word was law and all the followers had to swear loyalty to both him and his teacher Saleh.
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In the house, his word is law—he decides whether we shall be educated or not, what we will do, if we shall marry, when, and to whom.
Fiction book (1990) -
In the company, the CEO made decisions that everyone followed because his word is law.
-
During the meeting, the manager stated clearly, 'As long as I am in charge, my word is law.'
Synonyms
1
8.5
People must do what someone says without question
What the mother decides must be followed without question
Antonyms
How Authoritative
- Informal
307
2.7
902
1.3
455
1.2
∞
1.0
759
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally equates 'his word' (what he says or promises) with 'law' (a binding rule), so the intended meaning that his decisions must be obeyed follows directly from the constituent meanings. This metaphorical but highly compositional structure is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'su palabra es ley'), so a B1 learner who knows the component words is likely to infer the meaning.
Etymology
His word is law compares a person's word to law: the word is 'what they say' and the law is 'a rule everyone must follow'. It comes from times when kings or judges could make rules just by speaking, so if someone's spoken orders 'must be obeyed' the phrase means their decisions should be followed.